The two Super Bowl teams are now set. Both games were close and every team in this round could have won. But it’s Seattle and New England in the final game of the season and they made it there the old fashioned way, by earning it. I am presenting both Formula and SRS formulas, and to date, SRS has been far more reliable at predicting the New England games, as the formula dislikes New England.
Super Bowl Odds
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Seattle Seahawks
NE Patriots
2.477
0.92
18
The more reliable method of predicting New England games has been Simple Ranking, so we present those results below.
Super Bowl Odds SRS Based
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Seattle Seahawks
NE Patriots
0.936
0.72
6.9
In both cases Seattle is favored, though the more realistic odds scenario gives the Seahawks almost a 7 point advantage. My genuine hope is the game is exciting. These two teams have the muscle to make it so.
We are now down to four teams. New England made it here as C J Stroud gave up too many turnovers. Denver-Bills and Bears-Rams were close games. Seattle won in a blowout. Looking for data on the effects of losing a QB starter, AI suggested it affects an offense by 4 EP. Just note that EP is not the same thing as points, as you generate lots of EP by running up and down the field. Anyway, on to formulas.
Conference (NFC/AFC) Playoff Odds
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Seattle Seahawks
LA Rams
0.423
0.60
3.1
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
1.562
0.83
11.6
I would not bet my formula on any game involving new England, as NE is not the kind of team my model likes, but New England is winning anyway. If you want a better representation of New England’s prowess, use the SRS formulas below. SRS based formulas have an added 3.8 point home field advantage.
Conference (NFC/AFC) Playoff Odds SRS based
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Seattle Seahawks
LA Rams
0.571
0.64
4.1
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
0.161
0.54
1.2
I will note that model or formula, these calculations favor the home teams. Now, if Bo Nix was worth, say, 3 points, then New England would be favored by 1.8 points by adjusted SRS.
While Seattle, our #1 favorite, did not play, our AFC pick, Jacksonville, succumbed to a set of turnovers and lost a tough game to the Buffalo Bills. The formula was not as successful as raw SRS this year, perhaps because teams like New England don’t fit our model. That said, these are the formula predictions for the second round of the playoffs.
2025 Second Round Playoff Odds
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Seattle Seahawks
SF 49ers
0.423
0.604
3.1
Chicago Bears
LA Rams
-1.048
0.260
-7.7
Denver Broncos
Buffalo Bills
0.809
0.692
6.0
New England Patriots
Houston Texans
-2.105
0.109
-15.6
The formula doesn’t like New England and doesn’t like Chicago either, so predicts losses for both. The results of a traditional offensive metric such as SRS are somewhat different. The SRS results include a 3.8 point home field advantage.
2025 Second Round Playoff Odds SRS based.
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Seattle Seahawks
SF 49ers
1.442
0.809
10.7
Chicago Bears
LA Rams
-1.115
0.247
-8.3
Denver Broncos
Buffalo Bills
0.374
0.592
2.8
New England Patriots
Houston Texans
0.099
0.525
0.7
The SRS results still don’t favor the Bears, but New England is slightly favored and Denver – Bills comes out as a close game.
The formula for calculating these odds are given here.
The teams most favored by the playoff formula are the Seattle Seahawks and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Seattle is favored throughout the NFC playoffs. Jacksonville, as a #3 seed, will lose the HFA after its first round game, unless the #2 team, New England, loses. The teams least favored by the playoff model are New England, Buffalo, and Chicago. For comparison we have also calculated SRS based odds for all the playoff games, adding a 3.8 point HFA to the home team.
(PX within 2 years) Logit P = 0.660 + 0.304(SOS) + 0.747(PPX)
2025 NFL Playoff Teams, C&F Worksheet.
NFC
Rank
Name
Home Field Adv
Playoff Experience
SOS
Total Score
1
Seattle Seahawks
0.660
0.747
0.429
1.836
2
Chicago Bears
0.660
0.0
-0.386
0.274
3
Philadelphia Eagles
0.660
0.747
-0.249
1.158
4
Carolina Panthers
0.660
0.0
0.088
0.748
5
LA Rams
0.0
0.747
0.666
1.413
6
SF 49ers
0.0
0.747
0.575
1.322
7
Green Bay Packers
0.0
0.747
-0.316
0.431
AFC
1
Denver Broncos
0.660
0.747
-0.486
0.921
2
NE Patriots
0.660
0.0
-1.301
-0.641
3
Jacksonville Jaguars
0.660
0.747
0.249
1.656
4
Pittsburgh Steelers
0.660
0.747
0.097
1.504
5
Houston Texans
0.0
0.747
0.717
1.464
6
Buffalo Bills
0.0
0.747
-0.635
0.112
7
LA Chargers
0.0
0.747
-0.192
0.555
Using the data above, we can calculate playoff odds for the first round. As this is a simple static model, it will not yield the same odds as a model based on offensive stats.
First Round Playoff Odds
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
-0.157
0.461
-1.2
Philadelphia Eagles
SF 49ers
-0.164
0.459
-1.2
Carolina Panthers
LA Rams
-0.665
0.339
-4.9
NE Patriots
LA Chargers
-1.196
0.232
-8.9
Jacksonville Jaguars
Buffalo Bills
1.544
0.824
11.4
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans
0.040
0.510
0.3
The following odds are calculated with Simple Rankings. These will more closely follow formulas using DVOA, ESPN, Vegas based odds or other scoring stats.
First Round Playoff Odds SRS based
Home Team
Visiting Team
Score Diff
Win Prob
Est. Point Spread
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
0.446
0.610
3.3
Philadelphia Eagles
SF 49ers
0.338
0.583
2.5
Carolina Panthers
LA Rams
-1.65
0.161
-12.2
NE Patriots
LA Chargers
1.148
0.759
8.5
Jacksonville Jaguars
Buffalo Bills
1.081
0.747
8.0
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans
-0.419
0.397
-4.9
In both systems, Jacksonville-Buffalo is considered an easy win for Jax. The Pittsburgh-Texans came is close by the playoff model but an easy enough win for the Texans using SRS. Chicago – Green Bay and Philadelphia – 49ers are close in either system, with the playoff model favoring visitors and SRS favoring the home teams. Carolina – Rams is a hard loss for the home team via either system.
Jacksonville moves up from fourth place to third, and Philadelphia is just outside the top 10 in 11th place. Seattle ends the season as #1 with the Rams close behind. The injury to Daniel Jones leaves Indianapolis as the biggest ‘what if’ of the year.
NAME W L T SRS OSRS DSRS MOV SOS
--------------------------------------------------
SEA 14 3 0 12.64 6.39 6.33 11.24 1.41
LA 12 5 0 12.31 8.63 3.75 10.12 2.19
JAX 13 4 0 8.94 5.02 3.82 8.12 0.82
HOU 12 5 0 8.78 1.70 7.18 6.41 2.36
SF 12 5 0 5.77 3.83 1.89 3.88 1.89
NE 14 3 0 5.71 3.42 2.19 10.00 -4.29
IND 8 9 0 5.16 4.55 0.52 3.18 1.99
BUF 12 5 0 4.73 3.89 0.79 6.82 -2.09
DEN 14 3 0 3.70 -1.00 4.57 5.29 -1.60
DET 9 8 0 3.67 5.43 -1.79 4.00 -0.33
Sorry about the delay, flu had me in its grip this week. With the final week of the season, the last playoff teams have been decided and we have the data necessary for calculating playoff odds.
The Falcons upset has led to a change at the top, with both LA and Seattle having the same SRS to four significant digits, but Seattle having a little more. San Francisco is surging up the ranks. Jacksonville is solidly in fourth. Denver remains just outside the top 10, at an SRS of 2.99.
NAME W L T SRS OSRS DSRS MOV SOS
--------------------------------------------------
SEA 13 3 0 12.36 6.69 5.88 11.31 1.05
LA 11 5 0 12.36 8.09 4.27 9.69 2.68
HOU 11 5 0 8.50 0.21 8.03 6.31 2.19
JAX 12 4 0 7.97 3.99 3.95 6.50 1.47
SF 12 4 0 5.88 4.53 1.69 4.75 1.13
IND 8 8 0 5.46 4.18 1.55 3.88 1.59
NE 13 3 0 4.71 2.70 2.00 8.88 -4.17
BUF 11 5 0 4.23 3.34 0.76 5.56 -1.33
DET 8 8 0 3.75 5.81 -2.16 4.06 -0.32
PHI 11 5 0 3.44 -0.44 4.09 3.81 -0.37
There were upsets this week. The Browns beat the Steelers, leading to Steelers – Ravens deciding a playoff game. Minnesota beat Detroit, ending their playoff chances. Baltimore beat Green Bay, giving the Ravens a playoff chance. Once might consider Miami’s victory over the Bucs an upset. But the biggest upset of all of them was the Monday night game, when the Falcons defeated the once #1 SRS leader of the season, the LA Rams. That was truly unexpected.
Las Vegas is now in the lead for the #1 pick, with the Giants defeating them on Saturday. One game remains, but only the Falcons draft position could change (if they win, they swap places with Miami).
Rank Team SOS W L T
-------------------------------------
1 LV 0.553 2 14 0
2 NYG 0.535 3 13 0
3 NYJ 0.539 3 13 0
4 TEN 0.565 3 13 0
5 ARI 0.571 3 13 0
6 WAS 0.496 4 12 0
7 CLE 0.498 4 12 0
8 NO 0.497 6 10 0
9 KC 0.533 6 10 0
10 CIN 0.533 6 10 0
11 ATL 0.492 6 9 0
12 MIA 0.463 7 9 0
13 TB 0.533 7 9 0
14 DAL 0.451 7 8 1
It’s pretty unusual to have so many ‘dead men walking’ in the top 10, but Indianapolis, Kansas City, and probably Detroit live in that category. Philadelphia edged New England for the final spot, And otherwise very little movement in the set of ten.
Iggles Blog
multiple author, fan orientation, bleeding Eagles Green. Links to plenty other Eagles sites.
Legend of Kirby Dar Dar
Yakuza Rich’s new blog. One of these days he’ll stick with a blog, and football fandom will be better for it. I don’t always agree with him, but he’s invariably interesting.
Live Ball Sports
Three authors, multiple sports, deep analysis, with a serious analytics flavor.
NFL Draft Rage
Articles, photos, and Youtube content make this a lively draft site.
Reading and Thinking Football
The replacement to Residual Prolixity. Some of the best reviews of sports books anywhere, and the author is a first rate thinker.
Residual Prolixity
Some fantastic reviews on football books. FO contributor.
Swinging Gate DC
3 guys talking thoughtfully about their beloved Redskins
Football Forums
Coach Huey
Both a forum and a great place to chill out and read up on some Xs and Os
Cowboys Zone
Huge Cowboys fan site. Most of my peers migrated here from Usenet circa 2004-2005.
Extreme Skins
Large, lively Redskins forum with an excellent draft thread.
Falc Fans
The admin, Pudge, makes this a fine Atlanta Falcons site.
Football Sabermetrics
Advanced NFL Stats
Win Probability central, and one of the most accessible analytics sites out there. Perhaps my first recommendation for a newcomer to football analytics.